Stars and Stripes reports that Germany may extend a loan to the top contractor on the new Kaiserslautern community center to get the problem-plagued project started again. The Air Force Office of Special Investigation and German officials have been looking into claims of corruption and mismanagement on the overdue project. Despite recent reassurances that the hotel and mall portion is nearly complete, the Stripes reports that Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) believes the investigation should continue because “the project continues to be over budget, behind schedule, and falling apart because of shoddy work.” At a hearing of his Oversight and Government Reform hearing in June, Waxman said much the same and blamed the Air Force for failing to provide “proper planning and oversight.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III chaired a China-focused military briefing Oct. 27, part of a biweekly series of briefings with senior military commanders about China’s growing threat in the wake of an orbital hypersonic weapon test that elicited public worries from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. “What we…